Earth: Population 2 (Paradise Lost Book 1) (3 page)

I hated lying to her, so I settled on the partial truth. “Sure. It sounds like nothing special, just a big rock that fell from the sky.” I’d stashed the rock with the markings under my bed.

“I don’t know about that.” She turned the TV down and finally looked at me. “They’re saying the stuff it’s made of isn’t anything they’ve seen before.”

I believed that. “Oh, really?”

“Yeah.” She put the remote on her stomach, which acted as her table. Over the years, as she’d refused to go out in public with her fake leg, she’d grown less and less mobile. She kept gaining no matter how healthy I tried to cook. Now, she could barely stand up from her chair. I considered her immobility my single greatest failure in life.

When I looked into her green eyes, I saw myself. Or, rather, the young, pretty, auburn-haired girl she used to be. I had a shadow of her beauty.

She rubbed her eyes. “The one that hit us is just one of many. Scientists say they’ve landed all over the globe from Turkey to Alaska. It must have been some meteor shower.”

“Have any of them found anything interesting besides the rocks?”

Mom gave me a suspicious look. “No. Why?”

I waved my hand. “No reason. I have to go make dinner.”

She held up her finger. “That’s not all. One reporter found tracks in the woods.”

My stomach dropped. “Tracks? What kind of tracks?” Were the police going to show up at my door and measure my size six-and-a-half shoe?

“Strange tracks, like nothing a human would make.” She stared at me, wide-eyed. “Small impressions, like child’s feet, but long and skinny, as if someone drew them out like taffy.”

I turned away from the TV, thinking about the thing that had jumped in the back of the pickup. “That sounds pretty strange.”

“And the tracks had a gelatinous substance around them.”

“Gel?” Exactly what we’d found on Hailey’s window. I started to freak out and breathed in and out to calm myself down before Mom suspected anything.

“I’m sorry. Am I scaring you, dear?”

“No, no, no. I’m just tired. That’s all. Tired and hungry.”

“Go make dinner then.” Mom glanced back to the TV and turned the volume up. For once, I was glad to be going out with Hailey afterward, because Mom would watch the news for the rest of the night, just like when Michael Jackson died and the terrorists attacked Boston.

I dragged the groceries into the kitchen and started boiling water for the whole wheat pasta I’d bought. It was more expensive than the regular stuff, but nutrition came first.

My mind kept replaying the scene from last night. I hadn’t imagined it, and I had to stop telling myself I had. This asteroid business would be all over the news. This was big, monumental stuff. Guilt and shame rolled over me as I thought of the rock under my bed. Somehow, I had to find a way to give it to the scientists without getting my friends in trouble.

Maybe I could sneak back to the site and drop it on the ground? Impossible. A million security guards had probably roped off our camp. Already, I’d seen more traffic in town, and non-townies clogged the aisles in our grocery store. I wouldn’t be able to get within a mile of that site.

Hailey was right. I should have never picked it up.

The water started to boil, so I threw in the pasta and opened a can of green beans. Even if Hailey didn’t eat her veggies, I, at least, tried.

After eating dinner with Mom in front of the TV, I rinsed the plates and stuck them in the dishwasher. I ran the low-rinse cycle to save water and joined my mom in the living room.

The news station showed hand-drawn pictures of aliens with oval-shaped bug eyes and slits for mouths. I averted my gaze from the screen. “Is it okay if I go out with Hailey for a while?”

Mom tore her eyes away and gave me a melancholy smile. “Juliette, you’re over eighteen now. You don’t have to ask me for permission.”

“I know. It’s just a habit. I want to make sure you’ll be okay.”

She waved me off. “I’ll be fine. I have all these new alien shenanigans to watch on TV. It’s much better than
Dancing with the Stars
. They don’t even have any real stars this season.”

I laughed. I loved how my mom treated me like an equal, a confidante. “What about the guy from that soap opera you used to watch?”

“Oh, come on, honey. He’s not a star. Not like your Captain Jay Dovetail. He’d be great to watch.”

I blushed, thinking about Gale Williams wearing those sexy dancing costumes. Mom knew me better than I knew myself. “He would.”

She patted my arm. “Go with Hailey and have some fun. You work too hard.”

Suddenly, picturing Mom watching the news play the same footage over and over seemed so sad. “Are you sure?”

She frowned, and the bitterness lurking under the surface sprang up. “I hate holding you back.”

“Mom. What? Stop talking like that. I wouldn’t even be here if it wasn’t for you.”

My late grandma had urged Mom to have an abortion. She’d said having me would ruin both our lives. You see, Grandma had my mom when she was only sixteen, so when Mom got pregnant while still in high school, the cycle continued. Grandma wanted to break the curse. But Mom fought for me. She moved out and had me all on her own. I’ve never forgotten how hard she struggled for me, not for a minute.

“If I had my leg….” Mom glanced at the fake leg in the corner of the room, collecting dust. I wished she had the courage to try it on. We couldn’t afford a high-end prosthetic or a lot of therapy, so, what she did, she had to do on her own.

I leaned back in the chair, resisting the urge to encourage her to try the prosthetic. Every time I did, we got into an argument, and I didn’t have the energy for that tonight. In fact, I should stay with her, especially if she was feeling down again about her situation. Watching alien pictures on TV wasn’t all that bad. None of it was real. Right? “Listen, I won’t go out tonight.”

“No, no, no. This is exactly what I’m talking about. Your friends are all leaving for college soon. You should spend time with them while you can. I’ll still be here when you get back.” Mom pulled me up, half rising out of her chair.

Afraid she’d fall over, I stood and helped her back into her seat. “Okay, okay. I won’t be gone long.”

“Have fun. And watch out for the aliens.”

I laughed despite the chill that came over me. When I spoke again, I was totally serious, “Don’t worry. I will.”

Hailey picked me up, right on schedule. I climbed into her busted-up pickup wearing a fresh tank top and my favorite plaid shorts because no one wants to smell like deli meat and sour milk. The passenger door stuck from one of the dents, and I yanked it closed.

“You sure this thing is safe to drive?”

“Yeah. We’re not going far.” She pulled away from the crumbling curb. They hadn’t repaved the parking lot since I was in junior high. The building’s siding flaked off, and a few of the windows had blue plastic tarp instead of glass. The greenish-yellow water in the community pool stank, and, the last time I dunked my feet in, I had a rash for a week.
Home sweet home.
The poor maintenance explained our cheap rent.

Hailey drove through town and up the winding road leading to the mountain ridge overlooking the valley where we lived. As the woods thickened, a chill crept up my spine, and I searched the shadowy undergrowth for scrawny white arms, spider legs, and tentacles with suction cups. Let’s just say my imagination ran on overdrive.  Normally, I’d want to get out of the car to get a better view of the sky and the constellations, but after what had happened, I’d keep the door locked. If the lock still worked.

“We’re not going deeper into the woods, are we?” Hailey never told me the whole plan. I fidgeted with the lock. The top didn’t go all the way down, making me nervous.

“No way. Not after what happened. Do you think I have noodles for brains?”

“Just checking.” Noodles were in aisle six, along with the international foods.

I shook my head, trying not to think about groceries or aliens. What were the chances asteroids would strike twice? Weren’t they like lightning? I tried to focus on my own personal matters. “What about Mike?”

She shrugged. “What about him?”

“I don’t want to kiss him, that’s what.”

“Julie, Julie, Julie. What am I going to do with you?” Hailey sighed like I’d disappointed her. “Think about this—who are you going to meet working at the grocery store? Sure, Mike is a little bit chubby cheeked, and he drinks too much beer, but he’s good at wrestling.”

Wrestling. I liked wrestling as much as twelve-hour shifts, earwigs, and moldy eggplant. “We have nothing in common. Quit trying to hook me up. This isn’t
The Bachelorette
.” My mom loved that show. She made me watch every episode despite my cringing reactions when all the ladies crushed on some dork. None of the bachelors compared to Gale Williams.

“Who says you need to have stuff in common? Look at us. We don’t have anything in common. You like science, I like English. You watch movies, I like plays. You like the red gummy worms, and I like the green ones.”

I laughed. “That’s different.”

Hailey pulled into a parking space between two cars stuffed with other graduates. They rolled down their windows and waved. Hailey turned to me with a serious expression. “I’m worried about your romantic future. Tell me, who are you going to meet working at Save ’n Shop?”

I thought of Leonard, the balding shift leader who played video games all night; John, the deli assistant who picked his nose when customers weren’t looking; and Roy, the cart pusher who couldn’t pass the cashier test. “Maybe a hot customer will walk through my line?”

“At the local grocery store in Nowheresville?” Hailey gave me her
derr
look, scrunching up one side of her face.

“Meeting someone is the last thing on my to-do list right now. I have to take care of my mom, and having a boyfriend would only complicate things.”

“That’s what I was afraid you’d say.” Hailey opened her door. “I have to talk to Brooke about getting my sweater back. You know; the nice one with the pearl buttons? I gave it to her at Randy’s party after she complained everyone could see through her shirt to her bra, and she’s had it all year. Be right back.”

Before I could protest, Hailey slipped out of the driver’s seat and ran to the nearest car. I curled my legs up against my chest and hoped the aliens weren’t lurking outside my door to stick their suction cups in my hair. In front of me, the town started to glow with streetlights as the sun disappeared beyond the horizon.

My world and everything in it seemed so small, so full of limitations. The horizon lay so far away. I’d never left New England, and I never would. The farthest I’d been was a wedding in southern Massachusetts and a field trip to the northern coast of Maine. Hailey was going all the way to UCLA in California. Knowing her, she probably wouldn’t come back except for Thanksgiving and Christmas.

The driver’s side door opened, and I crossed my arms to show my impatience. “’Bout time. Did you get your sweater back?”

Mike climbed in Hailey’s seat. “Hey, Juliette. What’s going on?”

“Nothing.” I stared at the horizon, acutely aware of his sweaty arm brushing against mine. Muscly guys were not my cup of tea. In fact, I didn’t like tea at all.

He rested his hand on the parking brake in between us and tapped his thick fingers. “Nothing, huh?”

“Yeah.” Conversation with him was so stimulating. I reached in my purse and found a stick of bubble gum before I died of boredom.

“Listen, I know we don’t talk much. I was hoping to get to know you better.”

He was hoping to get lucky before he went off to college. That’s what he was hoping to do. I turned toward him. “Where’s Hailey?”

“Talking with Brooke. I thought I’d come over and keep you company. You looked lonely.”

Great. So he pitied me. I turned back to the windshield. “I’m fine. I was just watching the horizon.”

“Great.” He draped his arm over the edge of my seat, making me want to squirm. “Did you see my latest wrestling match?”

He sounded so eager, I actually felt bad for him. “No. Sorry. I was working.”

“Oh well, you missed out. I went up against this guy who must have been a sumo wrestler in a previous life. This dude was pure muscle, the champion from last year. But, he had one weak spot—the way he left his right side open, and I could see it from a mile away.”

He wasn’t interested in getting to know me; he wanted an audience. While Mike rambled on and on about how he beat the impossible, I waited for an appropriate moment to end the conversation without being too rude.

“The crowd cheered when I won. I could tell they were all rooting for me, the underdog.”

He never stopped talking. It was like some horrible nightmare where I was stuck watching the sports channel and couldn’t turn it off.

Before I knew it, he leaned over, and his hot breath fell on my cheek. “Maybe you can come see the next match.”

He smelled like barbecue chips and sweat. I fumbled with the seat belt as he leaned closer. A squishy, warm sensation touched my earlobe. His tongue.

I spazzed out and fell against the passenger door, clutching my contaminated ear. I was better off outside with the aliens’ suction cups.

“What the hell?”

“I’m sorry.” His eyes widened in embarrassment, like I’d caught him with his pants down, which was actually kind of funny, despite my sticky ear.

“Why did you do that?”

“Hailey said you wanted a little action before we all went off to college. I thought…. Wait! Where are you going?”

I opened the passenger door, anger boiling inside me. Hailey sat on the hood of Brooke’s red Honda, laughing. I stomped over to them, reminding myself Hailey had meant well, so strangling her would only satisfy my rage.

Their laughter stopped, and both of them pointed at the sky.

CHAPTER THREE

NIGHT LIGHTS